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Why Google’s doubling down on Kubernetes

Welcome to Protocol | Enterprise, your comprehensive roundup of everything you need to know about the week in cloud and enterprise software. This Thursday: why Kubernetes is such an important part of Google Cloud's strategy, why sometimes we all just need a hug and why the Arizona prison system is keeping people locked up longer than it should.
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With the possible exception of Docker, no open-source project in recent memory has become as central to a so-called "cloud native" view of the world as Kubernetes. And no vendor has embraced Kubernetes more than Google Cloud, which has made the open-source project created within its walls a key part of its product strategy.
On Wednesday, Google doubled down on that vision, announcing a new Kubernetes service called GKE Autopilot. The idea is to automatically manage the Google Cloud infrastructure for customers that want to use Kubernetes to run their containerized applications, to a degree beyond what is already available from its standard Google Kubernetes Engine product.
Google is trying to overcome some Kubernetes reluctance with GKE Autopilot.The pitch for Kubernetes is that it's the best way to manage demand for containerized applications, a hand-me-down version of what Google uses internally for similar tasks. The knock on Kubernetes, however, has always been its complexity, as a powerful tool that requires Google-like skills to run and operate.
But one thing that remains unclear about Kubernetes is just how many cloud customers actually want to use it.
Google senses an opportunity here. Those numbers above suggest that while Google (and Microsoft) have supported Kubernetes in part as a way to help companies run applications on multiple cloud providers — in hopes of picking up customers already on AWS — most of their own Kubernetes users are building around a single vendor.
This isn't what some Google Cloud execs hoped for, exactly: It's no secret that there's a sizable group of them who pine for a world in which the company never ceded control of Kubernetes to an open-source foundation, believing it could have been a powerful differentiator against AWS and Microsoft.
Do cloud newcomers want (and need) Kubernetes enough to pick their vendor by the quality of its products based around the project? Google's position is clear.
— Tom Krazit
For corporate IT managers, there are many motivations to move dynamic workloads to the cloud. It provides an irresistible trifecta of flexibility, scalability, and costs savings for those managing varying workloads. Here's how to keep your data safe while it's in the cloud.
Hug it out: After Slack's big outage in January, the last edition of Protocol | Cloud previewed a special project just published this morning: the oral history behind #hugops, enterprise tech's message of empathy during big outages. I talked to 10 of the folks who got a movement started and continue to carry it forward into a new decade.
Mean streets: Rimini Street isn't exactly a household name in enterprise tech, but executives at Oracle and SAP know it all too well. Joe Williams reports on how the company is trying to build a business around providing support for older software, a revenue stream that aging tech companies see as their lifeblood.
Scattered clouds: Microsoft wants to sell customers in specific industries — like retail, finance and manufacturing — packages of cloud enterprise software services designed around their needs. I interviewed Microsoft's Alysa Taylor about these industries and their "need for their digital transformation partners to have deep industry and vertical expertise," as she put it.
What was your first tech job?
My first job was after I graduated with an engineering degree in India and went off to work for Tata Steel, one of the largest manufacturing companies in India, and first-hand learned how to manage teams at a manufacturing setup. It wasn't a tech job, per se, but it taught me important people skills that are extremely critical to success as a leader in any industry.
What changed the most at your company in 2020?
How we have learned to be much more empathetic towards each other, realizing everyone is juggling multiple responsibilities right now on the home front and the work front. Working remotely, we have managed to accomplish many milestones because we had each other's back. Culture is a top priority for me and our company as a whole.
What was the biggest reason for the success of cloud computing over the past decade?
Massive-scale digitalization. In the last decade, the world has seen consumers preferring to shop online rather than walk into a brick-and-mortar, make transactions via their mobile phones and drive cars that know you better than you know yourself. At the heart of this digital-first world is data, and what powers the seamless interactivity of data at scale and at lightning speed is the cloud. Cloud is the ultimate computing machine that you want to ride on for your digital transformation journey, and not a horse buggy.
What will be the biggest challenge for cloud computing over the coming decade?
By 2022, 90% of organizations will utilize multiple cloud service providers and will require significant augmented data management and integration. Such organizations will begin to see huge challenges with data integration and governance as major cloud service providers will try to localize data integration and governance.
Will the pandemic usher in a new era of remote working, or will we all come back together when it is safe to do so?
I think we are surely looking at a hybrid model going forward. There are huge benefits to both face-to-face interactions and working remotely and let's hope when it's safe, we can return to a hybrid model of working.
Thanks for reading — see you Monday.
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